More than one way to skin a cat
by LostHighwayEscapee
Summary: Alternate Xenoblade plotline. Events change at the battle of Sword Valley. This is a new game plus plotline in the sense that it contains major spoilers from the outset. Don't read until you've completed Xenoblade.


Xenoblade – More than one way to skin a cat…

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I case you missed the hint in the summary if you've yet to finish the game stop reading now and go and play Xenoblade or read spoiler free stories. You don't want the best plot twists being ruined and that's exactly what will happen if you read any further.

Also ("") = thoughts, "" = spoken, italics = whispered/subliminal , bold = loud/overwhelming

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An alternate Xenoblade plotline with the story changing at the battle of sword valley.

He'd been expecting a tough battle, but this was absolute insanity. It normally took five or six homs just to take down a single medium sized mechon, but here they were outnumbered, and he could see actual M100+ fortress grade mechon in the distance. Every instinct in his body was already telling him to run, but Dunban and Dickson were holding firm. He was still smarting from the duel; Dunban had defeated him and taken up the Monado, destroying his chance for glory, but it was performing spectacularly in Dunban's hands. Most of the mechon were dropping like flies against it, and it was genuinely looking like the tide of battle would turn…then it happened. Dunban suddenly collapsed, the energy from the Monado no longer properly controlled and coursing through him. Mumkhar knew this was his cue to run like hell, Dunban was clearly done for, and the mechon were concentrating on him now. As he turned to flee something odd happened. He thought of his warriors sixth sense, that strange inexplicable instinct that had always kicked in at the last possible moment, allowing him to dodge a would be killing blow he couldn't possibly have time to react to. He could feel it telling him to stay rather than run, yet another voice was telling him to run for his life. In the moment of confusion he hears another voice, Dunban's. He was expecting an insult but instead he hears a warning…

"Not that way!"

Mumkhar makes a snap decision and decides to stay. As he fights he asks himself several questions, but some are actually more uncomfortable to confront than the battle itself.

("How are you gonna get the Monado back if you run? It's not like we can win without it, and the mechon will take it…")

("You always wanted to be a hero…how you gonna manage that if the world knows you're a coward?")

("What's Dunban actually fighting for? Why'd he still warn you?")

("What's it gonna mean if we lose here, even if you survive?")

("**Why were you running the wrong way?**")

He sees something odd happen to Dunban. He passes out, yet remains standing. The energy from the Monado courses through his body and seems to force him to move. In this trance Dunban becomes unstoppable, even the fortress mechon are cut apart in seconds. A mercifully short time later the mechon are routed and the battle is theirs. The light of the Monado fades and Dunban collapses. Dickson and Mumkhar rush over to him to see what's happened.

"He's alive Mumkhar, but he's in pretty bad shape."

"What do you reckon his chances are?"

"He'll make if we shift our arses."

"What's that smell? damn, his arm!"

"…come on, I'll never be able to look Shulk or Fiora in the eye again he kicks the bucket here."

Mumkhar and Dickson get Dunban to the air transports for evacuation. Fortunately the medical officers are already waiting. Dunban comes to as they load him onboard.

"Did we win?..."

"Yeah, you sent them packing."

"…The Monado…it…"

"We saw…you just hang in there now. You're gonna make it, you hear me."

"Hell's teeth…I've never seen burns like those…best bet's to take the arm off right now…"

"…no…I don't care if it's useless…It'll upset Fiora if she sees me like that."

"Well, okay, it's just keeping it'll smart like a bastard…"

"It'll be worth it…"

The medical transport leaves.

"…"

"You okay Mumkhar? Not like you to end up lost for words."

"Not sure I know how to put this in words. Something strange happened out there, and I'm not just talking 'bout the Monado. There's something odd going on."

"Things did get pretty intense out there…It's gonna be days before I manage to wind down."

"I don't just mean that…I've never been…indecisive before."

"You talking about where you were about to leg it? Why'd you change your mind?"

"I know this sounds mad, but I think my survival instinct was telling me to stay…or at least not to run."

"Well that's bloody weird."

"Not the strangest part either. Dunban gave me a warning that I was running the wrong way. He was right as well. Why the hell would I run the wrong way? Sword valley's a bloody straight line, there's no confusion, you can see Mechonis, that'll tell you straight away you're heading for trouble."

"…you know something? You need a drink. This isn't the sort of thing you want to think about right now. I don't think I can face Dunban sober anyway."

"…"

"Still thinking about that duel Mumkhar? Looks like he did you favour, you still wanna try your luck with the monado?"

"No…not after that. No way in hell I'm touching it till that kid of yours figures out what the crack with it is."

"He has a name you know, he's called Shulk."

"I'll try to remember...I guess I might be seeing more of him now anyway."

"Come on, the transports here, let's go home."

While on the flight back to colony 9 Dickson thinks to himself about what's transpired

("Well that's poor Dunban more or less out of the game, that bit went as planned. Mumkhar on the other hand, looks like we underestimated him. We'll have to work around that…oh shit, that bloody imprint's gonna cause chaos if we don't sort it out!…relax Dickson, it's already failed once, chances are he'll keep resisting it, and it shouldn't go any further without the triggers anyway...but better safe than sorry. I'll just keep him completely shit faced for next few days while we figure out what to do.")

The transport gets back to colony 9. They are greeted by Shulk.

"Dickson, Mumkhar, good to see you two are okay at least…"

"I guess you saw Dunban then…pretty costly victory…but we've got him to thank."

"Yeah…Fiora's with him now…"

"You go and keep her company; she'll need some support as well. Don't worry about us; we've got an appointment with a hangover in the morning so we need to get prepared. I know it's not really a good way of handling it but…I guess I'm pretty upset, and I find it helps."

"Okay…see you later…"

"So what the hell happened out there? The bloody thing possessed him! Didn't you see his eyes? He passed out on his feet…"

"We should ask him later…let him recover for now. He's seen enough of our ugly mugs for one day."

"I think I'm gonna need a proper skin full tonight."

"You go on ahead, I need to check up on something."

"Something?"

"The Monado. If it's been left lying around it'll send the first poor sod that gets curious to the doctors. You and Dunban were the only two people who could even hold it activated without it doing a proper number on you."

"Well you know what you're doing; I'll leave you to it. I'm not afraid to admit I'm now genuinely scared of that thing."

As Mumkhar leaves Dickson mutters under his breath

"Seems that survival instinct of yours is working overtime mate…"

Dickson finds the monado in its proper place in the weapons lab. He picks it up.

"Aside from the obvious we've got a few new problems, namely that imprint."

"Is it really that much of a problem? The objectives haven't changed…"

"He needs to be predictable, he's shown some resistance to it but if it keeps screwing with his head he's going to either realise something's wrong or end up highly erratic, and we could do with him on side"

"Get him back in contact with the Monado and we can neutralise it for now."

"Easier said than done, he saw what happened to Dunban, and as you might expect it freaked him out. He doesn't want to be anywhere near it now."

"…he's useful, but not vital to the plan. We need to get fate back on track somehow. It would have been a year before we'd play him again anyway so at this stage we've got plenty of time to look at alternative options…that said, the most straightforward solution would be to find a way of dropping him into Egil's hands."

"No guarantee that'd work now…he's already resisted once, he might again, even under the predicted circumstances."

"In that case keep an eye on him for the time being. He should still prove useful…he's both capable and fundamentally he's easily tempted, but if it looks like he's going to become too unpredictable an element try to remove him from the equation."

"And by remove I assume you mean kill him."

"If it comes down to it, although if you can see another way we'll trust your judgement."

Dickson puts the Monado down.

"Mumkhar old buddy, you've got me in a proper pickle now. At least I'll get to have a few more drinks with you while we figure out what to do…and let's face it, I'm not gonna be bored sorting this mess out."

Dickson meets up with a now lightly inebriated Mumkhar.

"You've got some catching up to do, we've got a heavy night ahead of us."

"You've got rounds for three here."

"Force of habit…"

The two keep drinking and the tone of the conversation lowers.

"Gotta admit, Vangarre's a sly old bugger…getting some fine pieces of skirt like Dorothy and Minnie in the ranks. 'S one way of getting recruitment rates up."

"It's actually worked the other way round…but even better from that point of view, nearly half the defence force is totty now."

"That said he's still aiming for the jackpot…"

"You talking about Fiora?"

"Yeah, he's dead set on getting her on the force…won't have the same effect mind."

"How'd yer mean? If you listen to the drivel those bloody layabouts spout all day it's nothing but bird watching, and I'm not talking ornithology."

"They all know they'd have the same problem…they're not Shulk. Besides, she might have blossomed spectacularly, but everyone knows she was the biggest tomboy in the colony. Nothing she liked more than a proper fight and anyone dumb enough to bully Shulk ended up out cold with an imprint of her knuckles in his face…and that's not taking into account anyone trying to do anything untoward to her would have to deal with Dunban sooner or later as well."

"Lucky Shulk…he gets himself a princess who'll come and rescue him…Maybe I should ask him for advice, I'm single at the moment..."

"Hahahahaha! Trust me, Shulk's the last person who'd be able to tell you anything useful in that department. Fiora's the only girl he can even talk to, and even then the two of them are so shy when it comes to romance they wouldn't even admit to dating. Not that they need to say anything mind, it's bloody obvious…their eyes light up as soon as they see each other."

"Reckon I should stick to chatting up defence force lasses anyway. I'm keen on birds who like to get to the magic sooner rather than later…and I guess there's nothing like the prospect of being dead tomorrow to hurry things along."

"Unpleasant way of putting it…but probably true."

"So, anyone you've got your eye on?"

"I'll take what I can get Mumkhar, I'm not getting any younger…"

"I thought you'd be a bit pickier than that…I suppose we have had quite a lot now though."

"Anyone you've got your eye on?"

"Funny, now that you mention it I'm not really in the mood. Guess I'm still a bit freaked out from earlier, so I'll settle for the unconditional loving embrace of the brew master's daughter."

The two of them continue to drink until chucking out time, and stagger back to the fortress. Mumkhar finds an unoccupied bunk and crashes out. Dickson leaves him and heads back to the lab and faces the monado.

"You might end up regretting what you did to Dunban you know…sure, you might have needed him out of the picture, but at full strength he had the power to change things, and change them back if they went off course. If things get nasty it's gonna be up to me now to sort them out, and you know as well as I do that's gonna draw attention…attention we could do without if everything's gonna run like clockwork."

There's no response from the monado.

"We've got a year…a year to come up with an alternative solution…and a year keeping things stable in colony 9."

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Special thanks to Mirage352 who provided proof reading and ecouragement.


End file.
